When Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet begins shipping to end users on November 15th, it will have the potential to “radically redraw the media tablet market” according to market research and intelligence firm IDC. Unveiled on Wednesday, the Kindle Fire is a portable and flexible 7-inch tablet that will provide users easy access to a wide array of Amazon services. It is also one of the most accessible tablets to date, retailing for just $199.99 with no contract. “We have long maintained that media tablets are additive devices, not replacements for PCs, and that’s why media tablet vendors—aside from Apple—have had trouble selling units at $500 and higher,” IDC analyst Tom Mainelli said in a statement. “By pricing the Fire below $200, Amazon gives cash-strapped mainstream consumers permission to own a third device (PC, phone, and now tablet) without having to justify its cost by attempting to use it to replace their PC. At that price a tablet can just be a table [sic]: A device that’s quite good at consuming media, writing short emails, and Web browsing.” IDC’s full statement follows below. More →

Amazon on Wednesday unveiled the tablet the tech world has been waiting months to see: the Amazon Kindle Fire. We covered Amazon’s press conference live and went hands-on with the Kindle Fire as well, and our initial impressions are relatively positive. The sleek slate is portable, it’s affordable and it offers deep integration with all of the Amazon services we know and love. At the same time, the Kindle Fire could easily be caught in no man’s land. Despite the buzz on various tech blogs over the past few weeks, Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White says the Amazon Kindle Fire is most definitely not an “iPad killer.” In fact, as BGR Editor-in-chief Jonathan Geller suggested during an appearance on CNBC on Wednesday afternoon, Amazon’s new tablet might not even really be an iPad competitor at all. Read on for more. More →

We just saw the Amazon Kindle Fire in person, and it really is about as close as it comes to a BlackBerry PlayBook as far as the exterior goes. It’s nearly identical save for the Amazon branding, and the lack of a camera and microphone. The touch panel and screen are the same, and the exterior casing is almost an exact replica. As far as the software, Amazon’s heavily-customized Android OS looks to be just perfect for what Amazon intend for users to do with this tablet — watch movies, read books, play music, browse the web and spend money on Amazon services. We saw games being played, movies being watched, and the web browser in use, and while it was mostly smooth, there were notable hiccups and stutters when switching between apps and tasks. All in all, at $199, it’s an incredibly compelling offer, though the new Kindle or Kindle touch for $79 and $99, respectively, seem more attractive to us in addition to an iPad or Android tablet. Check the gallery below for our hands-on images and check out the video after the break!

During a press event in New York City on Wednesday, Amazon took the wraps off of its $200 Kindle Fire tablet. The Kindle Fire is equipped with a 7-inch display and will have access to all of Amazon’s services including AmazonMP3, Amazon Prime, Amazon Kindle, Amazon Instant Video and the Amazon AppStore. The tablet is powered by a dual-core processor and weighs 14.6 ounces. Customers can pre-order the Kindle Fire today and it will ship in November. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos also unveiled a brand new version of his company’s popular eReader, dubbed the Kindle touch. The $99 Kindle touch is equipped with an infrared layer on top of the E-Ink display to help avoid with any interference while reading. It also has Amazon’s EasyReach technology for turning pages by tapping the screen in specific areas. In addition, an X-Ray feature allows users to view where and when certain characters or places take place in a book. Amazon will also sell a separate Kindle touch 3G model for $149. Pre-orders for the Kindle touch eReader begin today and will ship by November 21st. Finally, Bezos announced a new standard Kindle for $79 that does not offer a touchscreen. It is available now and will also ship today. We are hoping to bring you hands-on photos with Amazon’s new devices shortly. In the meantime, be sure to keep your browsers pointed to our live coverage of the event. Read on for the full press release from Amazon. More →

We are live from Amazon’s Kindle Fire press conference in New York City where the online retailer is about to announce a $199 Kindle Fire tablet. The Kindle Fire is equipped with a 7-inch display and can connect with Wi-Fi networks but will not ship with a 3G chip, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. Customers will also receive a 30-day trial to Amazon Prime when they purchase the Kindle Fire. Amazon Prime allows customers to stream movies from Amazon’s Unbox service, which now offers content from FOX, and provides free 2-day shipping. The device is largely expected to look like the BlackBerry PlayBook. Amazon is also expected to reveal a $79 entry-level Kindle. BGR will be bringing you more details on the tablet in the coming hour and we expect to deliver a hands-on shortly, too. Stay tuned. More →

We’re live and in color from Amazon’s Kindle tablet (Kindle Fire, it would seem) event here in New York City, and we’ll be bringing you all the action live as it happens. While the tablet itself has been leaking for months — BGR exclusively reported this past May that Amazon’s first tablet would be based on the NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, and a larger device sporting a quad-core CPU will launch early next year — by there should still be a few surprises in store. At least we hope so. Stay tuned for the live coverage to start just before 10:00 a.m. Eastern, and don’t forget to refresh this page for the latest news as it breaks.